Game Reviews and Author's Thoughts

It has been a quiet few weeks since my GenCon review post. I did do a review of New Bedford in that time because I love that game so much I wanted everyone, well, everyone that actually reads my blog, to know about it. But I really haven’t had a lot of new and exciting games to blog about. That is all about to change in these next two weeks. I have two games to review that will be hitting KickStarter soon, one game I am helping to fine tune the solo version before it hits KickStarter, and other I am play testing for the next two weeks. Oh, and I also have been working on my own game that I am going to start play testing with my boys the next few weeks. It is inspired by an old XBOX 360 arcade game my boys and I loved or I should say love as we still play it. Exciting! The two games I will be reviewing for KickStarter are 10 Minute Heist by Daily Magic Games and Battle Road Miniatures by Mike Becnel Games. I am really looking forward to 10 Minute Heist because, as you all know by now, I love games that setup quick and play fast. This game definitely sounds like it could be one of those games. It appears like it has some good art, I like the theme, and the mechanics seem pretty simple while still providing a challenge. I am pretty excited to test this one out. The other game I am reviewing is a Print and Play version of Battle Road Miniatures. This is a table top car battling miniature game with a heavier rule set. It has templates for moving similar to X-Wing with a “Control Panel” to keep track of your car’s stats. My boys and I break out X-Wing occasionally but it usually doesn’t end well and seems to take us forever to play. I am usually not a fan of games with templates but the kid in me is looking forward to battling with matchbox cars. I am curious to see if this provides us a little better experience than X-Wing. The cumbersome amount of templates and some overpowered pilot / card combinations usually mean we don’t completely finish a game. Up next I will be testing out and helping to tweak a solo version of a game called Incantris by RAINN Studios. It is hitting KickStarter on September 7th and they want to make sure the solo version is ready to go. Again, as you all may know, I love games with great solo versions so I am really looking forward to playing this game and giving the designers my feedback. I will be play testing a Print and Play version and hopefully I will get to do a review of the production version once it is complete. Last week I received a game called Gyrating Hamsters that my boys and I have been play testing for a few days now. It probably is the first game I have played in awhile that I just didn’t particularly care for. To be fair,” take that” style of games just do not go well at my house. Inevitably one of the boys starts getting a little grumpy when they feel like they are getting “ganged up” on. Usually a little grumpy turns into raised voices, animated hand and arm gestures and snippy arguments. That is why I try to stick to coop style games or games with a little milder take on “take that.” Aside from that the art is kind of bland and none of us cared for the random luck of battle. I do like the hurricane card that really helps someone that is way behind and really sticks it to the person that is way out in the lead. The game plays quick with two people but tends to get stretched out with three and four. I did enjoy play testing it though because I just love to try new games. Finally, there is my game. A game that I first envisioned remaking as a 3D video game. I, being a programmer, figured it would be no problem to create a video game. I can program no problem. I can’t, however, create 3D assets worthy enough to be in a video game. I also couldn’t find an artist that wanted to create my art. So my dream of remaking this game sort of fizzled out until a week ago. While in the beginning stages of creating my first “easy” civ board game I realized my video game idea could transfer to a board game pretty easy. Within a few days I had all the basic rules and components to start testing it out. Well, actually I am finishing the cards today. Creating a playable version of a board game is a little easier than a video game especially when you have components in other games that fit the bill. Also, card protectors with a black back work well for generic homemade card stock cards with no art and just words. I am really excited to start playing this and tweaking it to evoke the same hectic and chaotic feel I wanted from the video game. Stay tuned on this one. I will reveal more details as the game progresses into something worth presenting.

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Author

A software developer by day and avid game player by night.KickStarter has recently rekindled my love of board games. Now I am looking to help the little guys of KS get their games noticed and funded as well as demonstrate how easy or difficult a game is played its first time through.